Cox & Company, Inc.

Kamel M Al-Khalil

Thomas F Ferguson

Thomas F W Ferguson

Dennis M Phillips

A region of an airfoil to be protected from accreted ice is heated to reduce the strength of the bond between the ice and the airfoil, and is mechanically deformed to shed the accreted ice after the bond has been sufficiently weakened. Heating ceases before substantial water runback is generated. The mechanical deformation and the cessation of heating occur approximately simultaneously.

Energy-efficient electro-thermal and electro-mechanical ice-protection method

Energy-efficient electro-thermal ice-protection system

An electro-thermal or hot gas anti-icer of the &ldquo;running-wet&rdquo; type is mounted at the leading edge of an airfoil. Mechanical de-icers are mounted on the surfaces aft of the anti-icer. The mechanical de-icers throw off ice without creating runback water, thereby eliminating runback refreeze ridges caused by a known hybrid ice-protection system. Advantageously, the de-icers are of a type in which the airfoil has a semi-rigid skin that forms an aerodynamic surface of the airfoil, and in which there is at least one mechanical actuator for flexing the skin.

Hybrid ice protection system for use on roughness-sensitive airfoils

An electro-thermal or hot gas anti-icer of the 'running-wet' type is mounted at the leading edge of an airfoil. Mechanical de-icers are mounted on the surfaces aft of the anti-icer. The mechanical de-icers throw off ice without creating runback water, thereby eliminating runback refreeze ridges caused by a known hybrid ice-protection system. Advantageously, the de-icers are of a type in which the airfoil has a semi-rigid skin that forms an aerodynamic surface of the airfoil, and in which there is at least one mechanical actuator for flexing the skin.

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Rutherford, NJ, United States of America

Kamel M Al-Khalil